Chapter 24 3. Temporary silence

After the fall of Siping, Mao Zedong ordered Lin Biao: "The Changchun garrison should immediately start to deploy the defense of the city, and prepare to stand alone for a month without relying on the main force's assistance. At present, our main force will act on both sides of the enemy and in the far rear." Mao Zedong did not know Changchun on the Great Plain is not good for defense, and it is not unaware that our army has been exhausted and exhausted.This consideration was still based on the overall situation of the ongoing negotiations between the KMT and the Communist Party at that time.

In late April, not long before the Battle of Siping, the Soviet army had completely withdrawn to the Soviet Union. The problem of taking over the Northeast no longer existed. What existed was only the problem of how the Kuomintang and the Communist Party divided the territory occupied in the Northeast. If the two sides fought again, of course it would be pure civil war.Zhou Enlai repeatedly negotiated with Marshall and Chiang Kai-shek about the ceasefire in Northeast China.At this time, the Central Plains did not fight much, and Marshall still wanted to temporarily control the civil war, so he also persuaded Chiang Kai-shek to cease fire.He even said that if there is no ceasefire, he will withdraw from the mediation and return to the United States.At this time, the China Democratic League proposed a compromise plan, that is, the Communist Party's army would withdraw from Changchun, and the Kuomintang army would not enter Changchun. In this case, a comprehensive ceasefire would be negotiated.But Chiang Kai-shek not only stopped fighting, but fought a big battle in Siping.At this time, Mao Zedong estimated that under the pressure of our side and the United States, a ceasefire might be possible.If we can hold Changchun, we may occupy an additional area during the ceasefire, and we can withdraw from Changchun in exchange for other conditions in the negotiations.

However, the development of the situation was beyond Mao Zedong's expectations.After Du Yuming captured Siping, he ordered the troops to move on and point directly at Changchun.Du Yuming’s consideration is that, firstly, the CCP mobilizes the masses and expands its ranks very quickly. If Changchun is not captured soon, the Northeast Democratic Alliance Army will soon have a strong force to defend Changchun; In the vicinity of Changchun, if the control is not in hand, the power consumption of the entire Northeast, including Shenyang, cannot be guaranteed.Originally, Chiang Kai-shek did not order Du Yuming to attack Changchun immediately at this time. Bai Chongxi, the chief of staff of the Kuomintang army who was supervising the war in Shenyang, also thought that it was not sure to attack Changchun, but Du Yuming believed that he was sure, so he persuaded Bai Chongxi, and then commanded the army to attack Changchun. Push north.Whether he is completely sure, Du Yuming doesn't really have a bottom line in his heart.But at this moment, an unexpected incident occurred—the most serious traitor incident in our army during the Northeast Liberation War, that is, Wang Jifang's mutiny.

Wang Jifang was a veteran cadre who had participated in the Long March. At this time, he served as the chief of operations at the headquarters of the Northeast Democratic Alliance Army. On May 19, when our army withdrew from Siping, he betrayed the revolution and became a traitor. Due to the important position he originally held, he knew a lot of secrets of our army, so his rebellion had very serious consequences for our army's actions (Wang Jifang joined the military reunification spy system after his rebellion, was arrested in Chongqing after the liberation of Sichuan, and was sent to to Wuhan, where the headquarters of the Fourth Field Army was located at that time).

After Du Yuming learned from Wang Jifang about the situation of the reduction of our army's various departments and the deployment that had already decided to withdraw to the north, he made up his mind to attack north, ordered the New Sixth Army and other departments to advance rapidly to the front line of Changchun with cars and tanks, and announced that they would be the first to enter The troops in Changchun rewarded 1 million yuan in Northeast circulation coupons. At this time, the main force of our army has been devoted to the battle of Siping, and Changchun has not many troops.After the Battle of Siping, the main force of our army was exhausted, and some troops had been dispersed during the fierce battle. When we moved to Changchun, there were enemy planes bombing in the sky, and enemy mechanized troops attacking from time to time on the ground. The speed cannot be fast. .Changchun is surrounded by a flat river, there is no danger to defend, and it cannot be defended if there are fewer troops.

According to this actual situation, in order to preserve its strength and avoid worthless sacrifices, the Northeast Bureau made the decision to withdraw from Changchun. On May 23, 1946, the Kuomintang army occupied Changchun.Du Yuming wanted to continue to attack northward to take Harbin, but he stopped at the south bank of the Songhua River, allowing our army to take a temporary rest along the Songhua River.Du Yuming stopped because of the following two reasons. First, Chiang Kai-shek was dazzled by the temporary victory. On the day when the Kuomintang army entered Changchun, he and his wife Song Meiling, accompanied by Bai Chongxi and other officials, flew to Shenyang for inspection, and flew to Changchun for inspection on the 30th.As soon as he came, the big and small leaders had to accompany or wait for the call, and all military operations had to be stopped.

Second, in order to ease the pressure on the North Manchurian side, the Central Military Commission and the Northeast Democratic Alliance Army Headquarters ordered our troops in the South Manchuria area to look for opportunities to annihilate the enemy in the Benxi area.Under the command of Xiao Hua, the troops of our Liaodong Military Region began operations on May 15 and launched the Battle of Anhai. On May 22, I regained Anshan in four vertical directions. Under our military pressure and political struggle, the Haicheng garrison, led by Pan Shuodan, declared an uprising on May 30. On June 3, our army captured Dashiqiao again.In the entire Anhai Campaign, more than 3,300 enemies were wiped out, and more than 2,700 people fought for the uprising.In particular, Pan Shuodan's uprising was the first uprising of an entire division in the Northeast, and it was also the first time that our army ate an entire division on the Northeast battlefield, which had a great impact on the situation in the Northeast battlefield.

Since the Kuomintang army has occupied Changchun, it has controlled most of the Northeast.Therefore, on the third day after Chiang Kai-shek flew back to Nanjing on June 3, after discussing with Marshall, he announced a 15-day truce in order to gain the initiative in the next negotiation and gain political capital in front of the people of the whole country. At the same time, it is also to rest the troops and prepare for a bigger attack. During the armistice, representatives of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party held peace talks again.Various circumstances indicate that the peace talks have entered a critical period.If the peace talks break down this time, the peace talks between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party are likely to break down completely, and the civil war will break out in an all-round way. On June 18, Chiang Kai-shek, through Marshall, proposed to the CCP delegation the "Plan for Consolidating the Northeast Army and the CCP Army's Stationing in and Outside the Pass". He wanted to occupy most of the areas including Harbin. Activities in Qiqihar area.It is of course impossible for our party to accept such conditions.If you cannot solve the problem peacefully, you have to prepare for a big fight. On June 19, 1946, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China issued instructions to the entire party to prepare for a major fight. On June 22, a similar instruction was issued to the Northeast Bureau. On June 24, Lin Biao sent a long telegram to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, reporting the difficulties that would be encountered in the Northeast if a large-scale war were to be fought. He believed that "it is beneficial to strive for peace at present." concession". On June 25, the central government issued instructions to Lin Biao himself that "all the Kuomintang's arrangements are to fight, and there is no hope for peace for the time being", "a nationwide fight", and "rely on self-reliance".

Central's estimate was correct. On June 26, Chiang Kai-shek began to attack our Central Plains Liberated Area in an all-round way, and a full-scale civil war broke out. On July 2, Zhou Enlai held talks with Chiang Kai-shek, but to no avail. The peace negotiations between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party that had been going on for more than half a year have since ceased, and there have been no formal talks since then.Although Zhou Enlai was still in contact with people from all walks of life in the Kuomintang-controlled area, did all kinds of united front work, and discussed the armistice issue with the US many times, the peace talks between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party had actually broken down completely (Zhou Enlai and others returned to Yan'an on November 19 to participate in military mediation Ye Jianying and others from the Executive Department did not return to Yan'an until February 21, 1947), and a full-scale civil war was inevitable.

After the start of the all-out civil war, from a national point of view, the original "big fights outside the pass, small fights inside the pass" became "small fights outside the pass, big fights inside the pass", because Chiang Kai-shek focused the civil war on the Central Plains, northern Shaanxi and Shandong.Northeast China has roughly maintained the confrontation with the Songhua River as the boundary.As a result, our Northeast Bureau put the main force on the construction of base areas.